


Never knock it till you try

by stupidinspaces



Category: Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: BJYX Prompt Fest (The Untamed RPF), Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:28:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26696032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidinspaces/pseuds/stupidinspaces
Summary: Xiao Zhan finds someone he wants to bring home while looking for someone to bring home to his parents.(They meet through an online dating app.)
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean
Comments: 23
Kudos: 120
Collections: BJYX Prompt Fest 2020





	Never knock it till you try

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Kidhuzural](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kidhuzural/pseuds/Kidhuzural) in the [bjyx_fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjyx_fest) collection. 



> Better late than never? Sorry it’s so late...
> 
> Prompt: "Xz is trying to find someone on Grindr (or a Chinese version of it?) To settle down because he's 28 and hasn't been in a good relationship in a while, everyone he managed to hook up with only interested in one night stands.
> 
> He has very high standards, and doesn't like just anyone: the person MUST have something in their bio written (and it needs to be something interesting), they need to have a photo alone so he knows who the person is, and, after a match, they must have an interesting conversation. (And he absolutely dislikes any person who only posts pics of their body/dick, or that says they are there for something casual)
> 
> That is, until he finds Yibo's profile. Yibo only has some emojis in his bio (♌ 🦁🏍️🏅🎤🕺) but he looks adorable, not to mention gorgeous. Most of the pics are selfies and xz spends a lot of time in each picture. Which is why he's shocked when he sees a dick pic/six pack/a picture that leaves NOTHING to the imagination. And although he goes against all of xz's rules, xz still likes him (and is surprised when he gets a super like back).
> 
> If Yibo wants only something casual at first or not, it's up to the writer. As log as it has a happy ending and GG gets dicked, it'll already be beautiful."

Xiao Zhan walks into the living room, much later than he normally would on a weekday. His ears are full of cotton and his head is pounding. The normally welcomed beams of sunlight sting like needles in his eyes. He wants, more than anything, to crawl back into his bed.

The discomfort from seeing his apartment in disarray is greater than the discomfort from the effects of the alcohol, however, and so he battles through it to pick up messes from last night: a stray sock under the sofa from when Xuan Lu had wrestled it off of Yu Bin, makeup remover pads from when they tried to give Xuan Lu a makeover. 

He always tells himself he won’t go overboard with the drinking again, but there’s something about the way Xuan Lu says, “Come on, let’s do another shot” with a flush to her face and twinkle in her eye that has, since university, never failed to drag Xiao Zhan into making a series of bad decisions, the first of which is always taking that shot of alcohol with her.

He recalls the rest of Xuan Lu and Yu Bin’s visit in fragments. They had decided to meet up at Xiao Zhan’s place to celebrate Yu Bin’s promotion at work. “Hotpot and a movie?” he had texted them; Yu Bin was the traitor who’d brought liquor with him. 

It’s while he’s fluffing up pillows on the couch that he remembers his second bad decision from last night, where he remembers Yu Bin enunciating, “Bullshit. Bullshit that you’re only getting five matches a week.”

Xiao Zhan had been the one to breach the subject, asking them how they felt about being almost thirty years old, still single, and feeling pressured to settle down by their parents and by the ticking of the clock. “I’m only getting five matches a week, even when I’ve been consistently using this app. It makes me want to give up for a while, honestly.”

He’d expected some sympathy since he knew for a fact that Yu Bin’s mother was even more efficient at setting up blind dates for her son.

Instead, Yu Bin had surprised him by turning his head so that he was loudly proclaiming, “Bullshit! I call bullshit!” to the ceiling. His scrunched up face was flushed pink from the alcohol, mouth in an insistent pout.

From his other side, Xuan Lu had giggled a little exaggeratedly, a sure sign that she was getting tipsy.

Xiao Zhan remembers how heavy his eyelids felt as he tried to blink Yu Bin into focus, “What’s bullshit?”

“This app, your face,” Yu Bin said, the arch of his eyebrow screaming his disbelief. “I don’t believe you’re only getting five matches a week. I’m on the straight side of this app and I’m getting more matches than that…”

Xiao Zhan gathers the dirty glasses on the table and brings them to the sink. He considers the weight of them as he’s rinsing them, remembers next the sound of glass meeting wood as Xuan Lu had put her glass down the table, uncharacteristically aggressive, and said, “I’ve never been on that side of the app… Let’s see how many hot men are there.”

Which led to his third bad decision of the night: unlocking his phone and showing them his account. He had let Xuan Lu sort through the candidates first, and she had swiped dismissively for a few minutes before saying, “Of course. Here’s your obvious problem. None of them are as hot as the girls on the app.”

Xiao Zhan had nodded, “You’re probably right,” before realizing the deeper meaning to that statement, “Wait, what?”

“So I found out I’m into girls, so what?” she said, handing the phone to Yu Bin with a shrug.

“Congratulations,” Xiao Zhan had told her sincerely, Yu Bin echoing him. Xuan Lu put an arm around him and let her head drop on his shoulder as Yu Bin started tinkering with his settings.

“You don’t need this much text,” Yu Bin had muttered, “Most people would be curious enough from your pictures alone.”

Xiao Zhan had tutted. “Well, we need something to talk about, right?” He had been too embarrassed to admit that he had worked on his biography for an embarrassingly long time.

He’s wiping down the table when he recalls his next bad decision, which was showing them how he’d been trying to find dates. 

“I realized how shallow this app is, only showing pictures first, so I made it a rule to look at their bio first.” He had demonstrated by holding four fingers over the picture and using his other thumb to scroll down to the biography section. “I hide their profile picture and only read their bio, if they don’t have anything written down or it says they’re only here for something casual, then I swipe down. If they don’t have anything interesting in their bio, then they’re not interested in making an effort or we don’t have anything in common, I swipe down.”

“Such a romantic, ZhanZhan,” Xuan Lu had sighed, still with her head on his shoulder.

Encouraged, he’d continued, “Then I look at their pictures, as you can see some of these profiles have a shirtless picture as their main.” He swiped through some profiles of temptingly muscular bodies, “which means they’re only here to hook up. Instant swipe down. Some only have group photos, so you don’t even know which one of them you will be talking to. Instant swipe down.”

“Right,” Xuan Lu said and had jostled Xiao Zhan’s shoulder when she’d nodded forcefully. 

“When I match with someone, I steer the conversation to our careers and our interests. If the chat starts getting sexual, I tell them I’m not interested.”

“I see,” Yu Bin said, “the problem. Can I check something?”

Xiao Zhan quickly finishes up vacuuming and goes to his room to check his phone when he remembers his next bad decision, which was handing Yu Bin his phone at that moment. Because Yu Bin had then swiped up on all profiles, saying, “This is how you should swipe to maximize dating potential.”

His alcohol-addled mind had reacted way too slowly, only responding to Xuan Lu’s laughter. “Alright, alright, that’s enough,” he said, taking the phone away from Yu Bin. “I’m just one person, I only need to date _one_ other person.”

“I’m sure you’ve more than enough to choose from now,” Yu Bin only said, and leaned back again with his eyes closed.

When Xiao Zhan checks the app, he has more than forty messages. More than he’d ever received when he first signed up on this app two months ago, when he’d realized he was ready for a serious relationship again. He’d never had a problem finding someone to hook up with whenever he was horny enough to make the effort, but finding someone to date has been harder, especially with his work schedule.

He sighs. This is why he considers the series of events from last night as a series of bad decisions. There’s already a small knot in his stomach, thinking of how he should turn down this many people, especially when they’d made the effort to message him first. They don’t know that the profile that had given them a like had been hijacked by a slightly drunk Yu Bin and Xiao Zhan doesn’t want to ruin anyone’s confidence to approach anyone on this app, not when it takes little effort to give them proper closure.

He checks out every profile following the method he’d demonstrated to Xuan Lu and Yu Bin last night and replies to every message based on what he finds there. There are some that had given him a superlike in return, and he commits to at least exchanging a few messages with them before turning them down. 

One of the profiles that had given him a superlike stands out from the rest, though it shouldn’t have any reason to. The biography section doesn’t contain anything aside from emojis- the little Xiao Zhan can gather is that he’s “Yibo”, 22 years old, and he is a Leo who’s into dancing, motorcycles, music and some other emojis Xiao Zhan isn’t sure how to decipher. Aside from the music emoji, there isn’t much Xiao Zhan can see that he has in common with him.

The guy had messaged him first, a simple: _hey_.

Xiao Zhan has to laugh when he looks through the guy’s pictures. No wonder he’d kept his message to the bare minimum; he doesn’t have to say much when his pictures do all of the talking for him. He’s a little younger than those Xiao Zhan usually goes for - which makes him realize Yu Bin had expanded the age range he’d set on the app - but he’s exactly the type Xiao Zhan likes to hook up with: athletic and gorgeous. 

Yibo’s eyes are sharp and he doesn’t smile in any of his pictures. He should look intimidating but he isn’t; his straight brows, round cheeks, and full lips instead make him look rather… adorable. 

The last in a series of what looks to be professionally taken photos is of Yibo sitting on a chair, shirtless, knees spread apart, wearing joggers outlining a specific part of his anatomy. The photo provokes a familiar swoop in Xiao Zhan’s stomach, the one he’d realized since university meant that he’s definitely jumping in bed with this guy. Six packs are absolutely his kryptonite; he’d known that since he was a teenager.

The first messages Xiao Zhan sends are usually formal because he wants to establish a certain level of familiarity before meeting up with guys, but with this Yibo... He goes straight to a causal tone when he answers Yibo, feeling a familiar surge of excitement. 

“Motorcycles, dancing, and singing? Odd combination,” he writes. 

Yibo answers almost right away: “Love is love. Can’t help it.”

That reply startles a laugh out of Xiao Zhan. Somehow that was exactly the right thing to say. 

He takes the phone with him to the living room to think of an appropriately flirty answer, which he knows goes against all of his self-imposed rules for using this app. It’s unfair to everyone else that had superliked him and messaged him but that he has politely turned down because of their empty biography sections or for their profile pictures that were too shirtless for his tastes, if he breaks them for this guy and not for anyone else. _And_ Xiao Zhan had promised himself before even signing up that he won’t be using this app for hookups- but, he thinks, staring at Yibo’s picture again, he’s only human, after all.

\---

While they were finalizing the place and time they would meet, Xiao Zhan decided that Yibo would be his last hookup, a final indulgence before he goes back to what he’d promised himself he would use the app for. It would be a wasted opportunity, after all, if he didn’t get to ride that dick outlined in those black joggers at least once. 

Ten minutes inside his apartment and Xiao Zhan already knows it’s going to be a hookup worthy of being his last. He can tell just by the way Yibo’s hands are decisive when they grab his waist to pull him closer. Yibo had looked aloof when Xiao Zhan first spotted him, bringing Winter with him when he walked into the restaurant, but his hands are warm - and ridiculously big - when they touch him. 

“Careful,” he says, their lips parting with a wet sound, when Yibo tugs a little too aggressively at the buttons of his shirt. 

“Sorry,” Yibo says, a little breathless, hips stuttering against his. Through denim, he can feel Yibo’s erection. “You’re just- so hot.” 

He laughs, giddy from that confession, and grabs at Yibo’s neck to bring Yibo’s mouth back to his. He’d been hoping for a reaction like this when he’d chosen the shirt he’s wearing. It’s his ‘Get Lucky’ shirt that has never failed to end his dates in bed whenever he wanted them to. It shows off what he knows are his best assets: his collarbones and the dip between them, and his arms - which he’d started working out after being repeatedly teased by girls that he was too skinny to carry them. 

He hopes Yibo’s reaction when he first saw Xiao Zhan was the same as Xiao Zhan’s when _he_ first saw Yibo walk into the restaurant, wearing a leather jacket and makeup, dark hair styled with gel. He looked gorgeous in a way that had Xiao Zhan’s insides swimming with anticipation. 

He had come straight from work, Yibo had explained, his words a little stilted. Xiao Zhan hadn’t minded; he didn’t think there was a need to say a lot of words during the activities they would be doing anyway. 

Xiao Zhan can only moan when Yibo sucks on his tongue, making his whole body shiver. Yibo pulls back to smirk at him and he retaliates by loosening Yibo’s belt to stick a hand down Yibo’s pants. Yibo is definitely as big and as thick as Xiao Zhan had been hoping he would be. He slides his hand up and down Yibo’s length and Yibo’s mouth goes slack against his, breath hot against his cheek. 

“Bed,” Xiao Zhan says, already hard in his briefs. “My bedroom’s that door to the right.”

Yibo grins at him and Xiao Zhan has to take a break from breathing to stare a little. “Yes,” Yibo says. “Yes, please.”

Xiao Zhan smiles back at him, licking into Yibo’s mouth as a reward for using his words, for using good words.

There had been a lull in their conversation earlier as they were waiting for the food back at the restaurant, somewhat awkward, but Xiao Zhan had tried not to let his discomfort show, had tried to mask it by taking small sips of his beer.

Finally, Yibo had cleared his throat. “You into motorcycles?”

The sincerity with which he had asked that particular question startled a laugh out of Xiao Zhan. “No, I’m the last person you should be asking that… I don’t even know how to ride a bike. You know, a regular bicycle…”

Xiao Zhan felt a little relieved when something shifted with Yibo’s stance, looking relaxed for the first time. Yibo had smiled, sideways and self-satisfied - he had _smirked_ , really, “You don’t know how to ride a bike?”

“Hmm, I know how to ride those bikes with three wheels.”

Yibo had laughed then, eyes bright. His whole demeanor seemed to transform when he smiled, to something softer and approachable. It reminded Xiao Zhan of clouds parting to let sunlight through. “You mean the one that even little kids can ride?”

“We each have our own talents,” Xiao Zhan said. 

Yibo had laughed again, a hulking laughter that Xiao Zhan instantly wanted to hear again.

“I can ride other things,” Xiao Zhan said, and licked his lips in what he knew was a suggestive manner. Yibo’s face had straightened abruptly. Xiao Zhan watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed and smiled a triumphant smile for himself. 

Xiao Zhan positions himself to ride Yibo now, biting his lip in concentration to take all of Yibo’s cock. It’s a bit more work than usual; Yibo’s the biggest he’s had in awhile. He thanks whatever fortune that’s responsible for Yibo bringing condoms big enough to handle his dick, and that he himself had enough foresight to restock on lube. 

“Xiao Zhan,” Yibo says, pleading, “Zhan-ge…” Yibo is breathing loudly through his mouth, wide-eyed, hands clutching at Xiao Zhan’s thighs. 

“Give me a minute,” Xiao Zhan says, a little out of breath, wiggling his hips to get used to the stretch. “It’s just- you’re so big.”

Yibo throws his head back against the pillow when Xiao Zhan does start to move, whispering curse words under his breath, his big hands moving up to seize Xiao Zhan’s hips. 

Xiao Zhan’s heart is in his throat. He only has to move a little to feel Yibo fucking him fully. “Good, so good,” he moans, wanting to let Yibo know how good his cock makes him feel. He tips forward, hands landing on Yibo’s firm chest. 

He raises and swerves his hips, noting whatever movements draw out a string of curses from Yibo’s mouth, or causes Yibo to suck in a breath through his teeth. A jolt of pleasure runs through him whenever Yibo loses some of his control and fucks up into him.

“How is it?” he says, trying to sound boastful despite the quiver of pleasure in his voice, “You think I have talent in this?”

Yibo groans from under him, “Yes, yes, fuck, you’re so good at this.” 

Xiao Zhan laughs, breathless and delighted, feeling Yibo’s muscles clench and unclench underneath his palms. 

\---

He doesn’t expect to hear from Wang Yibo again, but two weeks later he receives a text from an unknown number: “Hey, do you want to meet up?”

A quick search reveals the number belongs to Wang Yibo. Xiao Zhan remembers then that they’d exchanged phone numbers, right before their first meeting, and that he had deleted Yibo’s number a week later. He really didn’t expect he would hear from Yibo again, even though Yibo had said, “I’ll text you” as Xiao Zhan was seeing him off.

Xiao Zhan remembers tilting his head as he surveyed Yibo after he said that, wondering at how soft Yibo looked in the morning light, still wearing his leather jacket and skinny jeans but without the makeup and without the gravity-defying hairstyle. It reminded Xiao Zhan of the quiet after a party, after all the guests had left. 

Yibo told him he’d text him with a straight face, like he really meant it. Xiao Zhan had simply smiled and said, “Sure.” Xiao Zhan had had enough hookups to know that formalities were not necessary when you were not planning on meeting up with the other person again.

Yibo was still young, he thought then, he was probably still learning the unwritten one night stand etiquette. Xiao Zhan had once been in those shoes.

Yibo had stared at him a moment longer, before stepping toward him to kiss him again, a soft and chaste kiss on the lips. Xiao Zhan had smiled at him, appreciating it as a nice parting gesture. 

Xiao Zhan watched Yibo find his way to his motorbike, and thought of how he’ll remember Yibo: as a talented boy with a beautiful dick, accompanied by the image of him panting and sweating from under him, and then later on top of him; and his sweet smile as he walked away from Xiao Zhan’s apartment, looking over his shoulder to wave up at Xiao Zhan’s balcony.

It’s lovely, Xiao Zhan had always thought, how people’s lives can cross paths. How, out of the billions of people on earth, you can share beautiful memories with someone that will stay with you no matter how fleeting your meeting was.

And meeting Yibo was a good memory he already knew he would tuck in for when he’s older and reminiscing about his more adventurous youth, or in the more immediate future, when he’s horny and needs an image he can jerk off to.

Xiao Zhan watches the cursor blink as he clicks on the text box to send his reply. He had gone on one date since getting fucked by Wang Yibo, but the date wasn’t promising enough that it stands in the way of another hook up in the meantime. He had decided Yibo would be his last hook up, so technically, as long as it’s Yibo he’s hooking up with again, he’s not going against his own previous decision.

“Sure,” Xiao Zhan types as he’s standing by the kitchen counter and waiting for his pot of coffee to brew, taking a much needed break from demanding clients. “What do you feel up to? We can visit the new exhibition downtown at the art museum, or we can go around the mall and see the new Joker movie?”

The moment Xiao Zhan sends the message, he wonders if he’s being too presumptuous. Maybe Wang Yibo wants to skip all formalities and jump straight to the booty call portion? Something Xiao Zhan wouldn’t be opposed to at all; despite first impressions, Yibo had been unexpectedly warm and fun to be with, and had put on a condom without even needing to be asked. Besides, he still remembers the delicious slide of Yibo’s dick, and he’s not saying no to experiencing that again.

“Mall, movie, dinner sounds good to me,” Yibo replies a few minutes later. “I want to see the new Joker movie too.”

They agree on a time and Xiao Zhan quickly finishes up two projects before he allows himself to start getting ready.

Wang Yibo is dressed simply when they meet. Gone is the leather jacket and makeup, replaced by an unbuttoned plain green shirt over a white tee. He’s wearing baggy camo pants and carrying a skateboard under his right arm. He’s probably the only person Xiao Zhan has ever met that has managed to make the color green look cool. 

The cool image is shattered, however, when he sees Xiao Zhan and grins widely. Xiao Zhan can’t stop the smile he feels spread on his own face in response.

“Sorry,” Xiao Zhan says, bowing his head slightly, “for being late. My car was stuck in traffic.”

“It’s fine,” Yibo says. “I haven’t been waiting long. I was just at the skatepark. It’s down the road from here.”

“You’re a skater too?” Xiao Zhan asks. From their dinner together last time, he knows that Yibo dropped out of high school, but Xiao Zhan figures he’s something of an overachiever in his own way. He works full time as backup dancer and choreographer, already having worked with the biggest names in the industry at only 22, and he still made time to become a professional motorcyclist on the side.

“I just started,” Yibo says with a shrug. 

“Oh,” Xiao Zhan says, “that’s cool.” 

“You wanna try it sometime?” 

Xiao Zhan laughs, “No, no. I think I’m better just standing and watching from the side.”

“Come on,” Yibo says with an upward jerk of his head, “I’ll teach you.” 

Xiao Zhan is almost tempted to say yes, faced with Yibo’s enthusiastic grin. But making a promise to allow himself to be taught by Yibo would mean there is a next time and more importantly, a growing friendship, and he already knows himself well enough that he cannot do the ‘friends with benefits’ thing. Just having sex is one thing, but he already knows he’s the type to form attachment and is unable to separate genuine feelings when there is actual friendship in the mix.

“No really, I’m okay,” he says, and instantly feels bad because he doesn’t want to see the light go out from Yibo’s face.

But Yibo just nods, swinging slightly from side to side. “I’ll just have to work harder at convincing you then?”

Xiao Zhan laughs, feeling a little awkward. He coughs. “So, where do you wanna start?”

Yibo surveys the mall. He nods toward the little boba stand in the corner. “You thirsty?”

They make some small talk while standing in line and then order quickly, Xiao Zhan sticking to his usual flavors. Yibo insists on paying for both drinks, but Xiao Zhan refuses, using his ‘I’m older than you card’ for the first time. 

“Thank you,” Yibo says when they get the drinks, ducking his head to sip coyly from the straw, “gege.”

Xiao Zhan nearly chokes on his own saliva. “Don’t mention it,” he manages to croak eventually.

There’s two more hours until the cinema starts seating and they walk around the mall until then. Xiao Zhan takes them to an art store and talks Yibo through the different mediums. 

“I was planning to study art at the state university, with a specialty in traditional painting…” Xiao Zhan says when Yibo asks him how he knows so much about ink and oil paints. “I didn’t get in.”

“That sucks,” Yibo says, his full lips downturned.

“After getting the results, I turned off my phone and just locked myself in my room for three days, but after a while you have to get up and move on. So I did graphic design instead.”

“And now you’re a graphic designer, right?”

“Yeah, I started a small studio with a couple of friends after university, in our hometown, but I branched out on my own after a few years… So now I’m here in Beijing.”

“Zhan-ge’s attitude is truly amazing,” Yibo says, a small smile on his face.

“Alright, alright, that’s just how life is, no need to flatter me too much,” Xiao Zhan says, feeling the familiar flare of embarrassment whenever he receives any amount of praise.

After the art store, Yibo surprises Xiao Zhan by wanting to look through what appears to be a toy store. He has a hobby for performing magic tricks and yoyo, he says, and would like to see if there’s anything new he can practice. 

“Oh, and legos,” Yibo says, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. “Maybe they have something new for my lego collection.”

Xiao Zhan doesn’t say anything, but thinks it’s money down the drain until Yibo shows off with a few short magic tricks and then a one-man show with the yoyo. He’s skilled with both, and Xiao Zhan understands then how Yibo approaches things he likes: with child-like enthusiasm but with the seriousness expected of an adult. 

“I’m pretty good with my body,” Yibo says, swinging the yoyo around. “So I pick up these kinds of things easily.”

“Wow,” Xiao Zhan says, “and you keep trying to praise me when you’re even more amazing.” He can’t help a small amount of insecurity, but more overwhelmingly, a determination to do better. It’s apparent that Yibo has managed to make his childhood dreams a reality. 

“Because you are amazing,” Yibo says with a shrug. “I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“You don’t have to waste words, I’ll still have sex with you,” Xiao Zhan says, making sure to say it with a quick smile, wanting to deflect when he feels the mood suddenly turn serious. 

“That’s not- I mean, I do want that, but-” Yibo stutters. 

Yibo’s hands which were, just a few moments earlier, maneuvering the yoyo expertly, were now fumbling a little with it. Xiao Zhan takes the yoyo from Yibo, making eye contact with him and deliberately brushing their fingers together. “Let’s go,” he says, “the movie’s about to start.”

\---

By now, Xiao Zhan has swiped through hundreds of dating profiles on this app that he can absently swipe up or down based on his set criteria, like a teacher that has already graded a hundred of the same test. 

He knows it’s a little dishonest toward the people hoping to find love on this app that he’s swiping not with enthusiasm, but doing so to ignore the latest message from Yibo, telling him sorry for the short notice, but is he available tonight? 

He isn’t, but he hates how that doesn’t stand in the way of him saying yes to Yibo, if he continues to follow the pattern of their last meetings: Xiao Zhan finding himself carrying his phone everywhere when he’s prided himself on not giving less of a fuck if his phone were to die on him; his heart skips a beat when he sees a message from Yibo on his display screen; he rearranges his schedule to make time to meet Yibo. 

In their meetings, he’s easily flustered by Yibo’s intensity. How he stares at Xiao Zhan unblinkingly, how he flirts with a frankly adorable self-indulgent grin, and how straightforward he is in his observations. 

Xiao Zhan taps his fingers on the table. He has apparently been harboring more pent up sexual frustration than he’d realized. It’s for convenience, he tells himself, that he’s willing to drag on this arrangement far longer than he should. Yibo is more than willing to have sex with him, willing to help him fight off his loneliness enough for him not to drift to the more desperate side of the dating sector, and more importantly...

More importantly, he enjoys Yibo every way he can have him: under him when he’s riding him, or facing him as Yibo holds up his legs by the ankles and fucks into him. 

It still never fails to get him in the mood, just remembering how Yibo would whisper hotly in his ear to, “Tell me how much you like it, Zhan-ge.” 

Since their first time, he’d known Yibo is louder in bed than first impressions would say. But it’s only recently that Yibo has been getting more and more confident actually putting into words what he wants from their arrangement. A lot of his requests seem to revolve around wanting to hear Xiao Zhan praise him.

The request doesn’t necessarily extend outside of the bedroom, Yibo easily becomes flustered whenever Xiao Zhan compliments his appearance or his talents. He’s been giving as good as he gets, however, since he discovered how many rocks Xiao Zhan had been throwing from his glass house.

He keeps on swiping, until he realizes that he’s been swiping down on guys that should pass his already narrow set of criteria. 

“What the fuck am I doing?” he mutters, closing the app. 

He opens up his phone again, this time to the messages app, only hesitating for a moment before typing, “Hey Yibo. I’m good after 7pm. Meet up at my apartment again? We can also meet up at yours if that’s more convenient.”

He places the phone screen-down on the kitchen counter and gets to tidying the place. They always meet up at his apartment since Yibo’s dance studio is closer to where Xiao Zhan lives. 

When he hears the chime indicating Yibo’s reply ten minutes later, he abandons the pretense that he’s doing laundry.

“If it’s okay, we can meet up at yours. Do you want to have dinner first? There’s also a streetdance showcase we can go to if you have time… It starts at 8:30pm.”

Xiao Zhan worries his lip while thinking of an answer. This thing with Yibo, it’s fine if it’s just hooking up, then that would mean he’s just scratching an itch and not distracted from finding someone to pay a mortgage with. 

But staring at him is the reason that this arrangement cannot stick to being an in-and-out fucking session. Whenever Xiao Zhan tries to strip it down to just the sex, Yibo always invites him to events that Xiao Zhan finds himself saying yes to. 

Xiao Zhan likes to know the basics about the guys he goes to bed with, but it’s different when they’ve started meeting up enough to open up to each other about past work place traumas and go on trips to childhood memory lanes. 

It means something when he knows the name of the favorite kindergarten teacher of the guy he’s fucking. 

He hesitates, already halfway through the construction of a lie about some demanding client who simply cannot wait another day for the deadline - but then he remembers Yibo’s pout. The one that comes out whenever he has a small request for Xiao Zhan, his lower lip pushed out and cheeks rounding, making him look unexpectedly cute. Apparently, it’s effective enough to work even without actually being present. 

“Alright,” he types and presses send before he can persuade himself not to. 

“You working from home? I can pick you up at your apartment after work and we can go together.”

Xiao Zhan snorts, feeling more at home when he senses the opportunity to tease Yibo. “How can you pick me up? You don’t have a car. Are you inviting me just so you can have a ride to the venue? I’m not a personal taxi, Yibo; I feel used!”

Yibo’s reply is a selfie, captioned, “It will be worth it!” 

By the time Yibo rings Xiao Zhan’s doorbell, Xiao Zhan has already tried on three different outfits before settling on his favorite pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt. 

And yet, Yibo’s first comment is, “You know we’re going to a street dance event, right?” 

Xiao Zhan looks down at his outfit again. It’s one of his more casual outfits for public events, which he thought would be perfect to wear to the one they’re going to. “What’s wrong with it?”

He examines Yibo’s outfit: an excessively baggy pair of pants, a hoodie, and a black bandana wrapped around his head under a hat. 

“You don’t have a hoodie or something like that?” 

“I do,” Xiao Zhan says, going to his room to pick up his favorite hoodie. 

Yibo takes one look at it, snorts and says, “Are all your hoodies like that? Ah, nevermind…” He strips off his own hoodie. “Here. Wear this.”

Xiao Zhan wants to be offended on his hoodie’s behalf, but then he considers the bunny print versus Yibo’s red and black oversized one and quickly agrees.

“Good enough for you?” he says, raising an eyebrow and trying to look stern, but is pretty sure of his lack of success; he can’t stop the corners of his lips from pulling up. Yibo’s hoodie is still warm from Yibo’s body heat.

“Yeah,” Yibo says, his eyes trailing down Xiao Zhan’s body intensely enough that Xiao Zhan feels like he’s been caressed under three layers of clothing. 

“Hold on, what about you?” Xiao Zhan asks Yibo later, as the doors of the elevator that is taking them down to the garage close. There’s something about Yibo’s round cheeks combined with his serious expression that makes Xiao Zhan feel mischievous.

“What about me?” 

Xiao Zhan tilts his head. “Aren’t you too cute for the street dance scene?”

Yibo sputters, but Xiao Zhan can tell he’s pleased about the compliment, eyes going half-lidded. “I am not cute!” 

“It’s okay if you can’t say it yourself, I will do it for you.”

Yibo swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing twice before he speaks. “I’m not cute. If you don’t take it back, I’ll- I’ll pinch you.”

Xiao Zhan raises an eyebrow, glancing at the sign indicating that they’ve reached the garage floor before stepping out of the elevator. “Okay, okay…” he says, and then quickly steps away from Yibo, “Cutie.” 

Yibo grabs at him, Xiao Zhan narrowly avoiding him, though Yibo catches him in his arms before he gets very far. Yibo’s hands trail down his side, and he spins, laughing, trying to avoid Yibo’s fingers, but he’s weak-kneed and weak-willed at the strength he can feel from them and all he’s able to do is shriek, “Yibo, Yibo, stop-” he pushes away Yibo’s hands, “Stop, we’re in public! Ah!” He yelps, grabbing at his ass, where he felt a pinch.

“Now we’re even,” Yibo says smugly, releasing him. “You also called me cute in public.”

“We were in the elevator,” he says, somehow still in the mood to play the victim, “there was no one else there.”

“There’s no one else here, either,” Yibo says, eyes bright and eyebrows raised in challenge. 

Xiao Zhan looks around the empty garage. “Still, there are cameras here.”

“There was a camera in the elevator.”

“No, there wasn’t!” Xiao Zhan says and then thinking quickly says, “Fine, see if I give you a ride.” And makes a mad dash to his car. 

Yibo is still only for a blinking moment, but is instantly hot on his heels, too quick for him. Yibo presses him against the car door with his body when he catches him, Xiao Zhan squirming uselessly and yelling out his surrender when Yibo proves to be unyielding.

As their laughters drift off, Yibo puts his arms tighter around him.

“Okay,” Yibo says, breath coming out in puffs against Xiao Zhan’s jaw. Xiao Zhan shivers despite the hoodie and Yibo enveloping him with his body. “Okay, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Take me with you.”

Xiao Zhan turns his head, not sure that the pounding in his ears is only from running, to see Yibo close his eyes and smile softly, bumping his nose gently against Xiao Zhan’s cheek. “Take me with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed reading this! Please leave a comment if you did so I know what worked. Feel free to let me know of typos, mistakes, inconsistencies, etc. 
> 
> The prompt called for a happy ending so I’m working on the second half for it.


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